Khatami to visit Saudi Arabia, successful Saudi - Iranian talks

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz said on Wednesday that the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami will pay a visit to Saudi Arabia, his first since he assumed power in Iran, to perform al-Haj rituals.

Prince Sultan said he will himself visit Iran following al-Haj season.

On Tuesday night Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi arrived in Tehran following a one day visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he delivered a message to the Iranian President from King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.

Kharazi said he held "successful talks with the Saudi officials dealing with current developments in the region and the Islamic world, especially the situations in Iraq and southern Lebanon."

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the European Union announced on Wednesday that the EU does not expect sanctions to be imposed on a deal worth US $2 billion between Iran and two European companies in the context of the agreement reached in 1998 between the EU and the US to avoid US sanctions on trade with Iran, Cuba and Libya.

According to the agreement with the European side, the US decided not to impose sanctions on the French Total company, the Russian Gas Bruem and a Malaysian oil company. The three companies in 1997 signed a contract estimated at US $2 billion for gas exploration in Iran.